Pret a Manger in Newbury will stay open
The Northbrook Street branch is not one of the 30 earmarked for closure
THIRTY Pret a Manger branches are set to close across the country – but Newbury is not one of them.
The sandwich chain is to permanently close the restaurants, as part of a programme that will put at least 1,000 jobs at risk, after suffering huge losses due to the coronavirus lockdown.
Although 339 of its 410 shops have now reopened, including the Newbury branch on Northbrook Street, footfall is still low, while sales were 74 per cent lower than the same time last year.
One of the 30 branches which will close permanently is the Reading shop on Broad Street.
Pret chief executive Pano Christou said: “It’s a sad day for the whole Pret family, and I’m devastated that we will be losing so many employees.
“But we must make these changes to adapt to the new retail environment.
“Our goal now is to bring Pret to more people, through different channels and in new ways, enabling us to grown once more in the medium term.”
A full list of the stores closing permanently is as follows:
London
1. St George University Kiosk
2. 421 Strand
3. Wood St
4. Heathrow Terminal 3 landside
5. 109 Fleet St
6. Strutton Ground
7. Centre Point
8. Warwick Way
9. Byward Street
10. Southwark The Cut
11. 41 Piccadilly
Outside London
12. 59 High St, Worcester
13. Albert St, Nottingham
14. Lion Yard, Cambridge
15. Fargate, Sheffield
16. High St, Uxbridge
17. Broad St, Reading
18. High Wycombe
19. Metrocentre, Gateshead
20. Queensgate Centre, Peterborough
21. Shandwick Place, Edinburgh
22. East Street, Chichester
23. Glasgow Fort Shopping Centre
24. Gallowtree Gate, Leicester
25. Shrewsbury
26. Lakeside
27. Capitol Centre, Cardiff
28. Grainger Street, Newcastle
29. Stratford-upon-Avon
30. Chapelfield, Norwich
